


i'd be home with you

by thalassashells



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: F/F, Fluff, partially epistolary but not the whole thing, pre-relationship but definitely thinking about it, wingwhale ba'ul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28480524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thalassashells/pseuds/thalassashells
Summary: Judith does something she's never done in her life: invite someone to her house.
Relationships: Estellise Sidos Heurassein/Judith
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	i'd be home with you

_ Dear Judith, _

_ Thank you so much for inviting me! Please, accept my apologies for how long it took me to reply. I've been busy, but that's no excuse! You must be as busy as I am. It only looks like things are changing overnight because of how hard we're working every day. That's the power of everyone joining together, right? After I visit you, you should come see Aurnion. It's very beautiful, and there are still places to sleep outside! _

_ I hope this finds you in Myorzo. I know how much you love to go travelling without telling anyone. Yuri told me that he found your mailbox full of letters the last time he visited you! So please, check! What if you missed this and never told me when I should arrive? Perhaps if I address it to Ba'ul he will pick it up for you. _

  
  


_ See you soon, _

_ Estellise Sidos Heurassein _

_ P.S: Is there anything I should bring for the Elder? Snacks? Jewelry? Furniture? …Would that encourage the hoarding? _

Judith's ear twitches in embarrassment. She had, indeed, pulled this finely handwritten letter from atop a dozen others, all stuffed into her mail slot. The bright pink address had been a giveaway to its importance. The others are all folded notes and informal deliveries, mostly from within Myorzo itself, as she has made herself notoriously difficult to get in contact with in any way at all. At least she was only late to it by a day - fate, maybe. 

She thinks of reading the others, but a task put off once is one put off a thousand times. Instead, they are stacked carefully but not neatly on the round table beside her bed. The morning sun shimmers through the round window on the other side of her bed, and by that light she finds a suitable piece of paper to write back on. 

_ Dear Estelle,  _

_ You seem to think replying within a week is slow. If that's the case, I can't imagine how you stand waiting for my replies. Or Yuri's. Or Rita's.  _

_ In any case, next weekend would be a good time. You can even show up a day or two early, if that suits you better. A princess wouldn't want to be late, after all. I'm trying to stay in one place for a little while, and the air up here is great for my skin.  _

_ As for the Elder, something edible would be best. He can't pack that away in a sock drawer for ten years. I hope he won't.  _

_ Yours, _

_ Judith _

_ P.S: No need for the formal signature. You prefer Estelle, don't you? Don't shy away from it.  _

She takes the letter to the dovecote, and ties it to the leg of one of the many birds within. Climbing to the top of the building, a tower so high that it nearly brushes the enclosure of Myorzo, she releases it in a flurry of wings. It picks up speed as it climbs towards the sky, and soon disappears beyond the green haze of Khronos's skin. 

Judith watches the spot where it left for a minute, then climbs down in graceful leaps. 

\--

Only a day passes before the same bird returns. This time, Judith intercepts it at the house.

_ Dear Judith, _

_ Imagine my face when I saw the pigeon so soon! They are magnificent creatures, aren't they? Do they all only have one route, or can they be told where to go? You'll have to show me when I arrive. Consider it cultural exchange. And I will be arriving very soon! I may have made the plans to come before ever receiving your reply...but you'll be glad to know they line up perfectly!  _

_ I am sure everyone in Myorzo is happy to see you stay. But, I know you will miss flying soon enough. We can fly together while I'm there, just to stretch Ba'ul's wings and your own.  _

_ See you even sooner than before, _

_ Estelle _

\--

_ You aren't serious!  _ Judith thinks very hard.

Ba'ul groans so loudly he shakes the dock. 

_ You won't leave me to pick up Estelle on your own - not just because I need to clean!  _ She thinks harder, her antennae flicking like an angry cat's tail. 

Ba'ul plays her feelings back in vibrations: procrastination, anxiety, embarrassment, claustrophobia-

_ Fine! Don't jostle her. She isn't used to flying without the boat. _

Ba'ul accepts Judith's admonishment, and descends through Khronos's membrane. 

Judith, a grown dragonrider, savior of the world, and blastia hunter, storms off to clean her room. As ordered by a great spirit of wind. 

It is a mess. She stuffs the letters she'd piled days ago into an actual drawer and shoves it closed, though it takes two shoves to stay so. She adjusts her bedding, though it has remained unused, as she's slept on Ba'ul's back ever since coming home. If Estelle is going to sleep here, it should have the dust shaken out. 

As Judith pulls the only other chair in her house from her closet and sets it at her small, square dining table, she realizes this apartment is not in any way built for two. She takes a second chair from the desk to place at the table. Judith may be fine with eating on rooftops, but Estelle preferred the social experience. 

That's not why she invited her, is it? Is that so important?

"Judith!" Cries a voice from the door. 

Before she can stop staring at the table, she's nearly toppled into it by the force of one princess and the several suitcases hanging off of her. It is only Judith's reflexes that save them from tumbling to the- still dusty- floor.

"Estelle," She says, forcing delicacy back into her voice as she rights them both, "You look good."

Estelle's smile is as blinding as ever. Judith wonders if the dimples on her cheeks have grown deeper. 

Then comes the barrage: Is this your house? You didn't show us last time! Oh, you didn't have it last time? You lived with the Elder? Oh! I brought him cakes...little cakes! Do you want some? I brought enough for us. Save them for dinner? Okay! 

Judith is dizzy by the time Estelle has calmed down to her usual energy levels. 

"Aren't you chipper for someone who just finished a week's journey?" Judith teases, and Estelle's face reddens. Judith hadn't realized she missed that. 

"Well...I only came from Aurnion, so it was only a few days...and I had a lot of time to rest in the carriage..." Estelle explains as she sets down her two large travelling bags. Out of one, she pulls a silver tin tied with a pink ribbon. Those must be the cakes. 

"Don't worry, I'll tire you out." Judith says before her head can stop her mouth. 

Estelle gets redder.

Judith smiles to cover the gears in her brain grinding to a halt, and changes the subject.

"So, can I show you around?"

\--

Three hours into Estelle's visit, Judith has lost the plot. 

She couldn't just bring the heiress to an entire empire on vacation, so she'd made up a reason. A cultural tour of Myorzo - something to help reintegrate the Kritya with the rest of the world below. Now, she's sitting in the outdoor kitchen eating meat buns with said heiress, surrounded by old men and women with a lot of questions. 

"I've never seen Judith here!" Says one, "She always eats inside, never with friends!"

Judith wants to sink into the ground.

"Oh, really? She's always eaten with me!" Estelle answers honestly, because she seems to want to make the situation more embarrassing than it already is. 

"Then you must be something special." Says another old woman.

"Is she, Judith? Should I be congratulating you?" The first old man interjects, pressing another bun into Judith's left hand, as the right is still holding an unfinished one. 

"I'm just being accommodating. Doesn't that befit a diplomat?" Judith answers with feigned grace.

Estelle looks, while flustered, a bit disappointed. Judith's heart sinks. 

"...Not to say that she isn't a good friend." Judith amends.

Estelle's eyes grow wide, and the old man laughs. 

\--

Twilight is coming soon. After the kitchen, they had gone to the library, where Estelle had disappeared into the shelves and reappeared no less than an hour and a half later with an armful of books. She had shoved them into Judith's arms, then retrieved yet another armful. 

As they walked back, each of them a person heavier in paper, Estelle explained in detail why every volume is vital to her. Judith found that she could listen to this for hours. 

"It's so beautiful, Judith." Estelle says, perched on her bed and staring out the window. She finally seems to be growing weary, or simply soothed by the green-tinted sunset outside. From inside Khronos, it looked as though the sun was setting in all directions as light bounced from the entelexeia's membrane and through the city. 

"There's an even better place to watch it, if you'd like." Judith offers, once again departing from her carefully laid plans. When Estelle looked so enraptured, Judith can't help herself. 

Estelle's head whips around, "Yes!"

"It's a bit of a climb, are you sure?"

"Of course. I'm not that tired yet." Estelle pouts. 

"Good." Judith nods her approval. 

So, she takes her to the dovecote. 

"Um, this is really beautiful!" Estelle says, "But isn't it kind of dark?"

Judith laughs, "I didn't bring you here to see the inside."

"Oh."

Judith takes her by the hand - the forearm was too impersonal, the upper arm was downright aggressive. Her fingers are surprisingly cold, Judith thinks, then wonders why she assumed they would be warm.

They take the long route up the building, by way of the wooden staircase that wrapped around the inner walls of the tower. Birds roosted in their hovels and the stairs themselves, all quietly grooming as they settled down for the night. Estelle  _ coos _ at them as they climb, making note of every one she found particularly cute. This encompassed most of the birds in the building.

Finally, they emerge at the very top of the building onto a square platform, higher even than the platform where birds were released and returned. The sunset is bright as dawn up here, blazing orange and green across the warping horizon. It is a sight that can only exist from the heart of Khronos, its aer carrying light in a way the atmosphere below never could. 

Judith watches Estelle's face against a sunset she's only ever watched alone. Maybe it wasn't a matter of never - those transformed entelexeia, the spirits, were changing everything as they spoke. What Khronos and Estelle would make of the world was yet to be seen. 

"Oh, Judith." Estelle says breathlessly, "I almost didn't believe when you said it could be better."

"But I was right?"

"You were right."

"Well," Judith takes a chance and entwines her fingers with Estelle's, "do me a favor and remember it, ok? We won't have it forever."

"Of course," Estelle says and squeezes her hand, "How could I forget it?" 


End file.
